Babysitting Backup
by HannahSheep
Summary: Watari leaves a ten year old Beyond Birthday with a sixteen year old L Lawliet for the afternoon. What chaos will ensue? Rated T to be safe!
1. Satellite Television

Hallo

_Hallo!  
This was an rp done by myself and Omgpotatochips (GO CHECK HER OUT.)_

_It takes place at L's hotel room when he is sixteen and Beyond Birthday is ten._

_There will be multiple chapters._

_I'm not sure how long it will go on, though. Enjoy!_

**!--!**

**Chapter One**

**Sattelite Television**

**--**

L opened the door to the hotel room, blinking in confusion when he saw Watari, "There you are," he said, "I've been sitting at the computer calling out your name for you for two hours...I wanted some tea..." he pouted a little. Watari nodded,  
"I appologize, sir. I had to make a run to the orphanage." L frowned,

"For what?"

B looked up, frowning a bit. He was sitting cross-legged on one of the room's beds, a novel in his hands that he'd brought with him. When L turned around his face brightened. Setting the book down, his frown turned into a bit of a smile.  
"Me," he said loudly, trying to attract the man's attention.

L looked at the bed quickly,

"How did you get past me?!" he asked, then looked at Watari, "You brought Backup?" he hissed, "Watari, I demand to know what is going on!" Watari sighed,  
"Well, sir," he said quietly so B wouldn't hear, "Backup has been, well...'innocently terrorizing' the other children at the orphanage, so I thought it would be good for him to come and see what it means to be L. I was going to leave him with you for the afternoon while I go back to the orphanage. They were bringing in a five year old Slovenian boy as I left."

B moved to the edge of the bed, as if trying to see past L. He waited silently for a moment in an attempt to hear their conversation; when adults whispered, they were usually talking about him, which was always an interesting topic. Giving up on the book, he gave one last glance at the cover and flung it onto the bed opposite to the one he was on.  
"What are you talking about?" he interrupted, as if he was actually curious. "_Matters_?"

L was definitely not thrilled. He could feel his teenage rage hormones start to get the best of him, but surpressed them the best he could. He sighed,  
"I suppose, Watari...but please, do not be gone long." Watari nodded,  
"I will do my best, sir. I have to evaluate and test the boy they brought in so we can rank him," he said, "But he seemed upset as he came in, and I'm not sure he speaks a word of English...Well, I must be off. Behave, Backup!" he said, looking past L and giving a warning look at the boy on the bed.

"I will," B mumbled in reply, but as soon as Watari left, he jumped off of the bed. He was grinning. "How do you plan on entertaining me?" he asked as he walked toward L with bright eyes. "Are you going to give me work?"

Inside, he really was excited; no one gets to meet L, and he knew that very well. Pulling his glasses off of his face, he glanced up at the other before setting them on a table. L was very tall, and B was only about 3/4 the size of him.

"..I don't really want to do work.."

L sighed,  
"Well...I suppose you don't have to work if you don't want to," he said, "But I have some things to finish up." he looked around, "There's a television there..." he pointed to the other side of the room where there was a couch and a T.V., "But I'm currently using the computers. You may watch television if you wish; it's satellite. Feel free to buy any of the paid programs, it will be put on my bill..." and with that, he stuck his hands in his pockets and left to the other side of the room.

"Hm, okay," B murmured. He looked over at the television; it was a pretty big model for a hotel room. Smiling, he picked up the remote and jumped onto the couch. Pressing the power button, the tv flicked on and he stared down at the remote in awe. There must have been fifty buttons, and when a menu came up all he knew to do was press the "OK" button until a list came up. He scrolled down until he reached the most expensive one on the list, and pressed OK.

**"Due to the graphic nature of this program, it is intended for mature viewers only." **

B pressed OK again, expecting some sort of zombie movie or gore fest.

It was the exact opposite.

"..Uhh.. L?"

L didn't answer, hoping that if he ignored the boy, he would leave him be. He typed away for about 30 seconds before stopping due to odd music and moaning sounds coming from the television. He looked over to see B sitting on the couch, frozen with the remote in his hands, his mouth slightly open, and his red eyes wide as dinner plates. He sighed and walked over,  
"What are you wa-AHH!" he jumped back when he saw the program on the screen. There had to be at least five people on each other in a mass of naked flesh, doing things L had never knew were possible.

B, panicking, glanced quickly from L to the screen.  
"It's not my fault!" he said loudly, as if he'd get in trouble. "The.. I.." Nearly throwing the remote at L, he scurried over to the side of the couch to shield his eyes. "It was the most expensive one," he mumbled, his face now buried into his knees. "I don't think it would be.. porn!"

As a ten-year-old, seeing something of that nature was pretty much the worst thing that could happen.

L couldn't look away from the screen (being a sixteen year-old boy), but was still repulsed,  
"How do you even know what that is?! I didn't know what that was until I got popups on my computer and had Watari explain!" he exclaimed, "Shut it off!"

"I DON'T know what it is!" B protested, now looking up. "I've never even seen a woman naked up until now.." he looked at the screen again, but quickly looked away in disgust. No wonder it was so expensive, he thought.

He was silent for a moment, his face red with blush.  
"...Is that how babies are made?.."

L blinked, but didn't answer. He grabbed the remote and shut off the television, then grabbed B by the wrist and took him to the computer, sitting him in the chair next to him. He looked at him,  
"When in doubt, ask Watari." he said, opening a new internet page. He went to google and typed in 'ask watari'. It replied with, 'did you mean 'ask jeeves?' L clicked the link to , and typed in 'How are babies made?'. There were many pages of results. "Hm...this Jeeves fellow seems to know his stuff. I will have to inform Watari of him. Now...which one should we click on...?"

"I don't know," he whispered, staring in awe at the screen. He pointed at one that looked reliable; apparently, it even included pictures. "That one looks good, I think.." He was a bit nervous about what they might find, especially if it ended up being something like what was on the television.  
"I don't think I wanna have kids now," he mumbled, shuddering a bit. "That was weird.." Well, that wasn't necessarily how babies were made.. but at his age, fiveway-sex was pretty much all he knew about baby-making.

L and B read the text with horror, both disgusted when they saw the pictures,  
"That's preposterous!" L exclaimed, x-ing out of it when they were done, "Why would anyone do that just to procreate?! They should adopt, I say!" He frowned and looked at B, "Well, I appologize that you had to see that...but I don't think you should watch TV for a bit..."

B nodded, still in shock.  
"Y-yeah. I've.. I've learned enough for today, I think." He looked over at the television, and then back at L. "I guess that's why we don't have cable at The House," he mumbled, but brightened after a moment. "So, what are we gonna do now? " He crossed his legs (criss-cross applesauce style) on his chair, leaning back into it a bit. "I'm hungry!"

!--!

_Ohohoho! Very nice, yes?  
I wonder what the boys are going to find in their kitchen escapades…?  
xD_

_Please review and tell me what you think!  
-sheepy_


	2. Macaroni

_Thank you guys so much for reviewing! It makes us both very happy to know that people actually like this.  
Once again, this is actually an RP, so any spelling or punctuation mistakes should be forgiven, please!  
Enjoy!  
_**_!--!_**

Chapter 2  
Macaroni

--

"Hm...I think we could have some lunch. Let's see what we've got..." he led B to the kitchen (it was a suite) and opened the refridgerator door, "..." he shut the door again and went to the cabinet, opening it, "There doesn't seem to be any premade food." he announced. "The only thing in the cabinet is this," and with that, he pulled out a box of macaroni and cheese.

"Is that it?" B asked glumly, and crossed his arms over his stomach. "No cookies?" He'd half-expected for there to be some sort of sweet, and was a bit disappointed. Continuing with the questions, he looked up at L. "Do you even know how to cook?" Glancing at the box, he frowned. "'Cause I can't. I'm only ten."

"No, there doesn't appear to be cookies of any sort...I usually have Watari bring me food..." he picked up the box and read the directions quickly, "This doesn't seem too difficult...I'm sure that I could do it...would you like to help?"

"Okay." B was hungry enough to help cook. "I'm usually not allowed near stoves," he said nonchalantly, smiling. "So this will be my first time cooking!" He walked over to the stove, and ran his hand over the top. "This part gets hot, I think," he mumbled to himself, and stared curiously at all the buttons. He was definitely learning a lot today.

"Alright. So...it says to fill up a small pot with water and place it on the stove to boil. We can do that." he searched the small kitchen for about five minutes before finding a pot and filling it with water. He placed it on the stove, then put his hands on his hips. They waited for another five minutes before L looked in the pot, "The water doesn't seem to be boiling."

B, standing on his tiptoes, tries to see. "Umm.. I don't think so either," he said. "Maybe we have to push one of those buttons.." He pointed at the various knobs and timers on the stove. The machine seemed like some kind of magical robot to him; it had all sorts of features, none of which he understood. "Is there a manual or something we could look at?" Glancing around the kitchen, he sighed softly. "I hope we don't starve to death.."

"Nonsense, we can do this. We're both smart lads...I mean, look! It's the Great Genius Detective L and his sucessor! We can do anything we put our minds to!" he ruffled B's hair with a smile, "Now...these knobs." he bent down into his normal sitting position, looking at the knobs on the stove, "It seems that this was once a percentage symbol," he said, indicating the 'degrees' circle, "It must've been scratched off. So if we're going by percentages, we should probably turn it to 100, because we want it to be 100 cooked, correct?" (Luckily for L, 100 degrees centigrade was exactly what temperature water boiled at!)

B grinned. "Okay!" he yelled with a change of spirit, and nodded as L explained the symbolism of the stove. "That must be it," he agreed, still smiling. He read over the stove's buttons. "It must be old," he said, "because there are a lot of things scratched off.." He glanced from the knob to L, and gave him a thumbs-up. "I believe in you, L!"

"I believe in me as well, Backup..." he reached down and carefully turned the knob to exactly 100, watching the flames spring to life under the burner (it was a gas stove). "Alright, so...after the water boils, we...put the macaroni into the pot, stirring it continually so it doesn't stick to the bottom, it says."

"Five minutes is a long time, though.." B stared at the oven as if that would make it cook faster, but after a moment decided that it was illogical and staring would not speed things up.

"Uhh.. is this your first time cooking, too?" he asked; L had about as much knowledge about the stove as he did, so he'd probably never cooked anything either.

L nodded, "Yes, it is...I asked Watari if I could bake a cake at one time, but he wouldn't allow me near the stove, either..." Once the water started bubbling and popping he opened the box, "Would you like to pour the noodles in?" he asked, offering the box to the boy.

"Yes!" B smiled, taking the box, and poured them sloppily into the pot. Helping made him feel needed, which made him happy. "I like cooking," he said gleefully, "but you should stir.. I'd probably mess it up."...Or would L mess it up even worse? He wasn't so sure, but he knew to trust L by now.

L nodded and got out a wooden spoon, holding it in his usual fashion, stirring it carefully while reading the box, "Alright...so...get out some milk and butter, please, Backup..." he said, "And then try to find a collinder so we can get the water off of the noodles."

B opened the fridge, digging through it to find the needed supplies. He found the butter, and set it on the counter. There was a gallon of milk in the back, which he pulled out while trying not to make a mess. Pulling it out of the fridge, he was surprised by its weight and nearly dropped it. With quite a bit of effort he set it on the counter as well, and opened a few random drawers as to find a filter of some sort.

After about three minutes of stirring, L had gotten bored, and without checking to see if they were done, announced that it was time to strain them. He set the newly found strainer in the sink and carefully poured the noodles in, "Backup, find some measuring cups and put the correct amount of butter and milk in the pot, please,"

"Yessir," B said, and after retrieving the measuring cups, attempted to get the right amount. Unsure of whether or not he was right or not, he poured them into the pot anyway to meet his requirements as L's helper. Cooking with L is fun, he thought, smiling. "What should I do now?"

L brought the noodles back over and put them in the pot with the other ingredients, "Well...it says we add the chees and we're done..." he pulled out a packet of powdered cheese and opened it, looking inside, "This must be dehydrated...this is probably the future of cheese...It seems to be more of a topping than anything..." he dumped it on top of the noodles and shut the stove off, looking proud.

"..So we're done?" B asked, surprised that they just cooked something. "Do we.. eat it now?" He asked as if in disbelief, and looked up at L for approval. Was it even edible?...He wasn't sure yet, but when he ate it he would probably find out.

"I...I think so..." he replied, looking at it curiously. He took out two spoons from a drawer and grabbed the pot of "macaroni and cheese", "Let's go and eat some lunch!" and with that, he left the room, going to sit on the bed with his young protegee and eat the food they made with they're own two hands.

B followed L, and sat on the bed next to him. "I hope it's good," he said nervously, and looked down at it as if the food they made was going to jump out and suffocate them (which was an exaggeration, of course.. he knew well that only marshmallows do that). "I've never had Macaroni before." Because of that experience, he was sure that L had probably never had it, either.

"I believe that I might have once when I lived at the orphanage...it certainly did NOT look like this though..." he looked at the "food" and poked it with his spoon, "But the cook didn't know what she was doing half the time anyways. I'm sure ours is exactly how it's supposed to be!" and with that, he took a large scoop of it, making sure to get a bit of milk, butter, noodle, and futuristic cheese topping. He took the whole thing in his mouth and started chewing; after a moment, he swallowed, "It's not bad! I think we did a good job!"

B was a bit scared to eat it, especially after what L had said about the cook.. but he tried it anyway. "..It is good," he said, smiling. "Thank you, L," he mumbled shyly, as if it was the first "thank you" that he'd ever said. Of course, he knew that back at the orphanage, he wouldn't be able to touch a stove.. though it was probably for the best.

**--**

_Oh Lord...-sigh-  
As long as they enjoyed it though, right?  
xD  
Review and tell us what you think!  
We have another chapter coming along.  
How about in your review you tell us what you'd like them to do next?  
Once again, thank you!_

_ -sheepy_


	3. The Mall

sheep on the rox: After their meal, the two boys sat trying to figure out what to do

!--!  
**Chapter 3  
The Mall  
--**

After their meal, the two boys sat trying to figure out what to do. L wasn't quite sure what boys B's age were interested in, or what activities the liked to take part in. L was never a normal child and was taken away at age nine to be a detective, "Do...do you have any toys?" he asked awkwardly,  
"I mean...we could go buy some...do you want some new clothes or something? A haircut?"

"No, I don't have any toys," B pondered (he wasn't counting the ones he'd stolen, of course), and pulled at his hair a bit. He hadn't had a haircut in almost a year.. "Okay!" he grinned. "That'll be fun." He looked up at L; today was starting to get really fun. "I haven't, umm.. 'shopped' in years."

"That's alright," L said, standing, "We can go to the mall and wander around...get you some toys and clothes...Watari let me get a master card now that I have so much money in my bank account..." he dug around under the bed and pulled out a pair of sneakers that had only been used once, and that's when Watari had made him try them on, "You're lucky I'm taking you. Normally I wouldn't dream of wearing shoes."

"So you're rich," B mumbled in awe, watching as L pulled the sneakers out from under the bed. He looked down at his own shabby shoes; him and L were opposite in that, as B never liked to take his off. "Thanks, then," he said, still staring at his shoes. He looked over at his glasses momentarily, but decided that it was probably best to leave them. "What's a mall?"

"Oh, a mall?" L said, "It's a big shopping centre with many small stores. You can find nearly anything there as long as you look in the right store. From what I've heard, many teenagers my age go there for recreational purposes. I've only ever been once or twice, though."

"Ohh," B said, nodding. "Sounds like fun. I wanna go.." In his mind, he saw a palace filled with stores and teenagers; that was a mall, essentially, but a mall wasn't exactly as extravagant. Excited, he hopped off of the bed. "Shopping adventure!" he said loudly as he landed, grinning ear-to-ear. Everyone at The House would be so jealous.. not that he planned on telling them of his day with L, of course.  
And so, the two set off for the mall, which wasn't very far from the hotel they were at, which was downtown. They walked for a good 20 minutes before arriving. As they walked hand and hand into the building, B thought about how anyone other than themselves would probably think that they were brothers.

"We probably look pretty cute, huh?" he stopped for a moment and looked at his shoes, "Can we get my shoes first?" L smiled slightly,  
"We probably are, aren't we?" He looked down at the boys tattered sneakers, his toes involuntarily curling in his own, "Uhm..." L didn't like shoes. Or socks for that matter. But he saw that B did need shoes, "I suppose...Oh, and Backup? While we're here at the mall, I'm going to have to ask you to call me by a different name, alright? I can't have people knowing who I am...it's very important that no one finds out my real identity. I suppose you can pick for yourself what you'd like to call me, so you can remember easier."  
"A new name?" B mumbled. It would be hard calling him a different name.. and what if he messed up? He'd have to think of an eccentric name, one that fit L so perfectly that he wouldn't forget. "Po.. ko.. yo." He thought for a moment, before grinning.  
"Can I call you Pokoyo?" (in no way related to Piyoko) he asked, trying not to laugh. For some reason it seemed to be the best name for L, made up of random syllables he'd thought up in his head. As if ignoring the subject, he looked around at his surroundings. A mall was obviously a very important place, and going around calling a teenager "Pokoyo" would probably seem pretty odd.  
Not that he cared, of course.  
L blinked,  
"Well...I might not answer to that on accident..." he mumbled, "Why don't you just call me 'brother'? Hm? We look enough alike, don't we? We can pretend to be brothers for an afternoon." he gave a little smile and ruffled B's hair. "Then if you get in trouble or anything and someone asks who I am, I'll just say that I'm your big brother and that I'm taking care of you for the day, okay?"  
B rolled his eyes.  
"It's not as good as Pokoyo.. but I guess I can call you 'brother.'" He sighed as if apathetic, but couldn't keep the act up for long. The idea of L being his brother wasn't bad a bad one at all..  
He cleared his throat, "Well, brother," he said, smiling, "What are we going to do first? I'm excited."  
"Well...you wanted new shoes, didn't you? I suppose we could go get those real quick so you can walk around in you're new shoes as we go through the mall, hm?" he looked around, "It seems that the shoe store is way down there..." he pointed, "Let's get going; maybe we can find some other stores we want to visit when we're done."  
"Yeah," B said, and looked down at his shoes once more. "That would be good.." He bounced on his heel slightly, smiling. "And then we can throw these ones out." He looked around at the various stores and people around him. He hadn't been outside of the house for years, and the real world seemed so much different than what he remembered. It didn't seem as big or overwhelming, and not for a moment did he fear getting lost.  
L nodded,  
"That's right...let's go then." he held the boy's hand and started walking, well aware of all the people staring at them. L was used to being stared at, seeings how hunched over he was, his hair, eyes, and even his overly-plain manner of dress stuck out in the sea of teenagers with perfect, complicated outfits. Then of course, there was B, with his shoulder-length black hair and red eyes.  
B practically skipped along with L, uncaring of how many stares they got. This was his day with his "brother," and he would not let anyone ruin it. He'd even heard a few people laughing, but it was probably because they were jealous, anyway..  
"Oh, and thankyou," he said, still strolling along happily. "I apprectaite this all a lot.."  
L smiled, not looking down,  
"It's nothing," he said, "If you're going to be with me all day, we might as well go do something fun, hm?" When they got to the shoe store, L let go of B's hand,  
"Now, where do you think we should look? I think there's kids shoes over there..." he said. As they wandered through the isles he said, "Now, you can get any pair of shoes you want, don't worry about the price, alright?"  
B looked up at L once more as he leg go of his hands, but the thought soon faded from his mind as he looked around the store. It smelled funny, kind of like rubber, but it wasn't exactly a bad smell.  
"Smells like new oppurtunities," he mumbled to himself before picking up a shoe to examine it. The shoe wasn't exactly his gender preference, though, so he set it back down quickly. Any brand would be fine, really, as long as they could handle a lot of damage and markers. He picked up a box of black canvas shoes, with rubber soles and more rubber on the front. He didn't expect to find the right shoe so soon, of course, but they looked so friggin' cool..  
"I wanna try these on," he said, turning around and holding the box up to show L. "I like them."  
L gave an odd little smile at the boy's comment about the shoe smell, then nodded when he picked up the box, "Those looks like good shoes..." he said, "Here, we can go sit over here and try them on..." He pointed to a bench, and just as they sat down, a woman came over,  
"Would you like to try these on?" she asked B politely.  
B nodded. Carrying the shoes, he ran over to the bench and sat down. He bounced softly on the seat, and when a woman walked up he didn't even care to stop.  
"Yes," he answered in the same manner she asked, and held up the shoes for her. "Oh.. wait." He stopped bouncing for a moment to take off his own shoe, and turned it over to look on the bottom. Setting the shoe son the bench, he held up his own shoe instead. Amidst gum and dirt stains, there was a small number on the bottom.  
"Do you know what that number says?" he asked, a bit embarassed. "I don't know what size my foot is.." He looked down at his foot, and wiggled his toes in their striped socks (he stole them from another kid at The House, of course). "I don't think it's a very high number.."  
"Sure, dear..." the woman looked at the bottom of his shoe, "It's a 31 and a half...These shoes are a 33, but that's alright. You can tighten them up, and you still have some growing to do." She smiled at him and started to put on the black converse. L gave a small smile as he put his thumb to his lips; he was actually starting to appreciate the boy's company, which wasn't what he'd been planning.  
"Oh, okay," B smiled. "That's fine.." He looked up at L, and then help up one foot to look at his new shoes. He waiting for the woman to put both of the shoes on, and stood up. After taking a few hard steps and jumping a bit, he turned to look at the woman and L.  
"They're perfect."  
L nodded,  
"I see that..." he looked up at the woman, "Is there anything you can do with his old shoes? I think we're just going to pay and he can wear them out." The woman nodded,  
"Yes, there's a bin in the back..." she put the old sneakers into the converse box, leading them to the front desk. L took out his master card and handed it to her, getting a slightly suspicious look.  
B followed the two happily, looking down at his new shoes as soon as they got to the desk. They were ten times better than his old ones, for sure, and he was excited to run around in them. He smiled at the woman (which probably would have looked creepy to someone who'd never seen him before) who helped him try on the shoes, as if that counted as a thanks.  
"Thank you, brother," he said after L had finished paying, and took his hand again.  
L couldn't help but smile,  
"You're welcome..." though he knew very well that he had no siblings, he couldn't help but feel happy when B called him 'brother'. "What would you like to do next, Backup? It's up to you, since I decided we should get you shoes first."  
"I don't mind," B said quietly, "I'm up for anything really.." He looked around, immediately spotting a pet store. "OH MY GOD! I WANT TO GO IN THERE!" he yelled, pointing at it and looking frantically up at L for approval. "I.. I don't want to buy anything, but.."  
L thought of everything that could go wrong with B in a pet store. The boy was so hyperactive and unpredictable that it might not be a good idea...Then he also remembered what Watari had told him, _'He's been 'innocently terrorizing'_ the other children at the orphanage.' He took a deep breath,  
"I suppose...but look at me...you need to listen to everything I say, alright? No misbehaving."  
B nodded.  
"Okay, I'll behave," he grinned sweetly (the only sweet smile possible in B's case), "I've never been in a pet store before.." For good reason, maybe, but it was true; the only animals at Wammy's House, in fact, were crows, bugs, and the occasional stray cat. There wasn't much wildlife to be seen. "I wonder if there will be fish!"  
"I'm sure they have fish..." L said, "I've not been in a pet store before either..." He thought back to when he was about B's age, "I wanted to once, but Watari said that he was allergic to pet dander...I was quite sad..." He held tightly onto B's hand as they went in, making sure that he kept him in his sight at all times. He didn't want something horribly bad to happen.  
"Ohh.. that must suck," B said, acknowledging L's feelings at the time. "My mom was allergic to cats--" He paused immediately, gasping. "Look at all the dogs!" He was practically pressed against the glass, gaping at a poodle that was in a cage at his eye-level.  
"Cute.." A few of the dogs barked, and he backed away to look at them all. "I wish we could have pets. That would be so awesome." The thought of B with a pet wasn't very welcoming to most people, though.  
As they continued walking, L had a thought,  
"Backup," he said very quietly so only the boy would hear him, "Is it possible for you to see the remaining life span of the animals?" he asked. He'd known that B had Shinigami eyes since the day he'd met him. It had been in his file at Whammy's, which he'd been made to look over to approve of him being next in line after poor A.  
B was silent for a moment. He considered answering, but pointed at one of the dogs and murmured a string of numbers.  
"...I can," he said quietly, glancing at L. How did he even know? "But it doesn't really matter.." He looked down for a moment, before brightening. "Hey, do they have cats here? Cats are my favorite."  
"Oh, I'm sure they do..." L said, thinking over the fact that B could even see the remaining lifespan of animals, "Here's a pen of kittens over here, I believe..." he led B to the small pen filled with all different sorts of kittens. Like B, he too, liked cats. They were majestic, clean, smart creatures that didn't do much movement, much like himself.  
B looked down at all of the kittens; some were sleeping, others were crawling over the sleeping ones, and a few were playing.  
"How cute," he mumbled, and reached out to one of the awake ones. It looked up at him curiously, and he smiled. "I've always thought that cats were better than dogs.. they're cuddlier." He took his hand out of the pen, and resorted to clutching the edge of it instead. "You should get a cat, brother."  
L smiled,  
"I would if it wasn't for Watari...don't want him sneezing all the time, now do we?" after a moment, he slowly reached out with his free hand and pet a calico kitten softly on the head, "I do wish I could have one though..." he looked at B, "Maybe for Christmas I can talk to Roger and persuade him to let you have a kitten if you keep it in your room so the other children won't see. If he says it's okay, I'll let you pick one out."  
"Oh, right.." B stared at a few of the sleeping kittens, laughing as one stepped on another. "I'd really like that," he said, and considered hugging L for a split second. He instead continued staring at the cats, going over its numbers in his head. It was a bit depressing, really, but he ignored it.  
Could we go look at something else now?" he asked softly, looking up at L.  
"Of course...how about we go look at those fish you were talking about, hm?" he led him into a back room filled with tanks full of exotic fish. L thought that fish were nice to look at, but really had no use other than that. They were not smart creatures that could provide comfort, protection, love...they only had a fifteen second memory. Who wanted a pet that couldn't even remember who you are?  
"Okay!" B followed L happily, as if forgetting all about the cats that they were around just a few seconds ago. He looked into a tank of some gold-red fish, watching as they all swam in a group. A few were swimming around a plant. "That's not real, right?" He asked, noting the plastic vine. "It's too green.."  
L nodded,  
"That's right...chlorophyl wouldn't make a plant that green. I'm guessing that it's made of some sort of plastic or rubber..." he looked around until he saw an anemone, "Do you see that plant-like thing? That's actually an animal, it's alive as well."  
"I thought so," B mumbled, turning to look at what L was talking about. "Really? Woww.." It really did look like a plant.. maybe a plant from space, but it didn't look like an animal or fish. "What's it called? I've never seen one before." He stared at is for a moment, before turning his attention to the other fish in the tank. It was a large tank, and there were quite a few different species. Some were hiding behind decorations, while some swam around freely. It was quite the display.

"That would be called an anemone," L replied, "A-n-e-m-o-n-e." he decided to spell it for him, as it was quite a confusing word, especially for someone his age. After watching the fish for a little longer, L started to get bored. He was trying to think of where they could go next in the mall before heading back to the hotel. He looked down at B, seeing that his hair was pretty long, "Backup, how about we get you a haircut here at the mall and then go back? You're hair's getting quite long."  
B tugged at his hair.  
"Oh, I guess it is.." His hair went slightly past his shoulders, and his bangs would hang in his eyes if he didn't push them to the side. "A haircut would be good." He looked around at the fish one last time, trying to get a lasting impression on them so he wouldn't forget. Never had he seen such colorful animals, and if he forgot them, he'd be very sad. Then again, if he didn't get a haircut soon enough, he'd probably be mistaken for a girl.. which was like a nightmare to a boy.  
"Alright," L said with a smile, squeezing his hand. As they walked out of the pet store, he decided that the boy probably deserved some praise for behaving so well in the store, "You were a good boy, Backup," he said, "I'm glad that you didn't cause any trouble...I've heard you're quite a mischievious boy...If you don't make a fuss about getting your hair cut, we can get ice cream on the way home." And with that, they made their way towards the hair salon.  
"I'm not that mischevious," B mumbled, but grinned. "it's just for fun, anyway.. but I'll be good.." He'd not dare to misbehave (well, not misbehave badly) in front of L, anyway. He was enjoying his time too much to do something bad. "For icecream. I'd be bad otherwise."

--

_Yaaay! Another chapter is finished!  
This one is pretty long.  
Sorry I didn't update as quite as I'd hoped._

_The next one: B gets a haircut! :O_


	4. Author Note please read!

Author Note

Hey guys, long time no see.  Sheepy here.  
Now, I'm NOT here to tell you that I'm going to discontinue this story.  
I was going to, actually, because Omgpotatochips and I ran out of ideas quite awhile ago. (Thus the lack of updates.)

But, as more and more people keep favouriting and reviewing this story, I thought that I might as well give you guys some more chapters.  
I'll try and have them out as soon as possible, but like I said, I'm pretty much working alone now, unless Omgpotatchips would be willing to help.

So thank you all so much for your patience and reviews. They all make me very happy and give me fuel to write more (so keep them coming)!

The next chapter will be up soon enough.

Thanks again,

-sheepy


	5. Haircut and a Question

**Chapter 4**

**Haircut and a Question**

The two boys walked hand in hand towards the hair salon, ignoring the stares of the other mall-goers. As they entered the salon, B looked up at L,  
"Who cuts your hair?" he asked curiously. L gave a small, proud smile,  
"I cut my own hair, actually," he replied, "When I was thirteen, I informed Watari that it was high time for me to be treated as an adult."  
"Wow…I want to be treated as an adult!" B said with a small frown. L patted him on the head,  
"Being an adult isn't very fun," he told the younger boy truthfully, "You should enjoy your time as a child. You'll have plenty of time to be treated as an adult when you take my place." B's frown grew as his gaze drifted to the space just above his idol's head,  
"Yea, but that's not for another—"  
"_Backup_." L said sharply, making the boy flinch. He usually heard his alias spoken in a harsh tone like that, since he was usually in trouble.  
"I'm sorry…" he muttered, looking down at his new shoes, "I didn't mean to…I'm used to looking without thinking first…" L sighed,  
"I know," he said, "It's just very important that I do not know my time of death, as it will distract me from my work."  
"Oh…"

"Excuse me, gentlemen," came an exasperated voice, "Can I help you?" They both looked to see a middle-aged woman sitting at a desk. L blinked,  
"Oh. Yes." He said, "My younger brother needs a haircut." The woman glanced at B,  
"I see that…" she mumbled, and then typed something into the computer, "Alright, go have a seat in one of the chairs and someone will be with you in a moment." B rushed over and jumped in one of the spinning chairs, starting to spin around,  
"This is fun!" he said, "You should try!" L hesitated, and then did as he was told; sitting in his usual fashion, he spun the chair.  
"Ahem."

L stopped his chair,  
"Hello." he said to a young woman of about twenty, whom he seemed very interested in. Without taking his eyes off of her, he reached out and stopped the younger boy's chair as well. B giggled and looked at the woman,  
"Are you gonna cut my hair?" She nodded,  
"Yup," she replied, "I'm Alexis, and I can cut your hair any way you'd like."  
"I want my hair cut like Pocoyo's!" he cried. Alexis frowned,  
"Pocoyo?" L blushed furiously,  
"I told you not to call me that!" he hissed at the boy sitting next to him.  
"Sorry, brother..." Alexis looked between the two,  
"Uhm…okay?" she mumbled, and then peered at L's hair, "I…suppose I can do that."  
"Yay!"

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, the two boys were walking out of the salon.  
"I thought she was trying to drown me, though! I didn't mean to knock it out of her hand…" B said to L, whose white shirt was soaking wet,  
"Well, what about the hair dryer?"  
"…I thought it was a laser gun." L sighed,  
"Well, I guess that I promised ice cream, didn't I?" The younger boy nodded excitedly,  
"Yea, yea, you did!" he jumped up and down a couple of times, "I want strawberry!" L smiled at him,  
"Okay, okay, calm down."

The two walked out of the mall, then went a few blocks until they got to an ice cream shoppe. B smiled as they went in,

"I'm so excited!" he said, "Roger doesn't let me have ice cream at the House!" L blinked, processing what he'd heard,  
"…wait…Backup, why can't you have ice cream?" When he turned to look at him though, the boy was already awaiting his ice cream cone.  
"I got you a strawberry one, too." He said happily as the woman handed him both cones. L paid for the ice cream, and then decided they should go back to the hotel. At the final cross-walk before the building, Beyond hit the button and looked at L,  
"Um…d'you think I could stay the night at the hotel with you? I mean, it's getting late and when Mr. Whammy gets back, he'd just have to take me back, which means he'd have to drive two hours there and two hours back," he said, "What if your time runs out while he's gone? By the time he gets back from Winchester, you could be dead!"

"I'm not dying tonight, am I?"  
"No, you are not." L sighed,  
"I will think about it, okay?" B nodded happily, feeling the sugar from the ice cream starting to kick in. Across the street, the 'DON'T WALK' sign changed, so B let go of L's hand,  
"Look at me!" he yelled, "I look both ways before crossing the street!" His head quickly turned both ways before he ran across the street, yelling, "SAFETY FIRST", leaving L standing on the corner, shaking his head.

* * *

**Hey guys! It's nice to see you all again. Thank you all so much for being patient with me. This is the first chapter I wrote all by myself. I hope it's up to your standards. xD Please leave me reviews about what the boys should do next, and if I find one that's good, I might write it! Until next time,**

**-sheepy **


End file.
